HOW LAWRENCE WRIGHT

GOT IT SO WRONG

A Correction of the Falsehoods in Lawrence Wright's Book on Scientology

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Wright claims that an ex-SO member (now apostate) Ferradj “became close to Hubbard’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Diana.

” Wright alleges that when Mr. Hubbard discovered this that he summoned Ferradj to the poop deck and “greeted him with a blow to the jaw”—after which Ferradj left the ship in disgrace.

>> True Information: This is patently false. It never happened.

The facts are these: In 1969, after extensive investigation, Belkacem Ferradj was found to have altered standard procedures, creating severe problems for auditors as well as the public they were auditing. He was corrected and given another chance.

During this same period, Ferradj created a problem with immigration authorities and was arrested. After he was released from jail, in March 1970 Ferradj was sent from the Apollo to Denmark to work in one of the Advanced Organizations. He was given an opportunity to gain experience since he had never worked in a public service organization. Shortly thereafter, however, it was discovered that he had been committing further gross technical errors before leaving the Ship, so he was called back and received a Justice Action.

By the following month, in April 1970, he was still generating problems on the Ship, spreading rumors and false reports. There were also a number of reports that Belkacem had a very bad temper and was not liked or trusted by those who worked with him. Such was the trouble Belkacem created that it was broadly announced “His activities have caused thousands of hours of needless work and much upset.”